Blood Red
by fangirl-4-evEr-xx
Summary: Forsythia Ruby started out as a simple dockworker. But thanks to a string of accidents involving crushes, pirates, and pirate wars, Ruby is now a Marine. A Marine who has a knack for getting herself into dangerous situations. She might be the worst Marine yet! Join in on Ruby's aim to become strong, and Ruby's hopes of not getting kicked out of the Marines! *OC's accepted.*
1. Prologue

**Authors Note: So, hello world! I'm surprised you even clicked on this fanfic, considering how much I suck at writing summaries! This here is gonna be my first fanfic, so, as a result, it will most likely suck. This is also my first fictional writing piece ever, too. Now, this is gonna be OC centric, but it is also gonna skim into the Whitebeard War and such. My fanfic is gonna involve some characters from the real show, and is also gonna scan over some of the show's events. I have never actually watched the show, I have Wikipedia to thanks for my knowledge of One Piece.**** I am never gonna stop writing this fanfic, even if I ****don't get any reviews. I'm honestly just writing this fanfic to improve my writing skills, and, frankly, because its fun. **** I think I already personally thanked all those who inspired this fanfic, who are MastaRasta, Katharonie, Apples Who Dance with Oranges, and my personal favorites, Indecisive Narcissit and ****doggydeath**. And also that guy who wrote "Iron Hammer of Justice", I am a 'mystery reader' on that story.

**Disclaimer: As you have guessed, I don't own the show, and I am not making any money off this piece of work.**

**Prologue Alert: This is a prologue chapter, so it will be confusing, like most prologues are.**

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**Prologue**

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It was snowing.

The snow was fierce, devouring anything that dare question its sudden appearance upon the land or was bold enough to come upon its course, but yet beautiful. Beautiful, the woman thought, because its pure whiteness came down upon the dirty terrain, covering the barren lands with its whiteness and innocence. The sun thought about the snow in the same way, it seemed, as it honored the now-thick layer by allowing it to reflect its golden glory.

The woman had always hated snow, even though she was on a winter island. But right now, everything seemed beautiful, as the shivering woman gentle lay the small baby in her arms onto a blue and rugged quilt, thus leaving the woman herself with nothing but a simple brown dress. The dress, which she came upon when she was searching the dump a whole year back.

The woman always thought that everything as ugly, her parents where ugly for they never cared, and her life was ugly. But most of all, she was ugly. To any stranger, she was a very gorgeous woman, with her ruby red hair, her crystal blue eyes, and her pale skin with rosy tinted checks. She never took their words for account, she was ugly.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

She hated her hair and she hated her eyes. They never feed her, they never bothered to cheer her up, and they just made her a victim. That night had been the most ugly night in her life, where ugly men crushed her childish and ugly hope, in that ugly alley. When she came home her parents where terrified of her, her with her not-ruby hair, but her blood red-ruby hair. With her incredible strength, she crushed all of her assaulters' heads, killing them in a most ugly manner afterwards. The strength she possessed to kill the men came from her necklace.

The necklace in question was a gold-chained necklace with a simple ruby. The ruby on the necklace was cursed though. The curse was that the necklace would give its wearing incredible strength, but at a cost. If a person felt hatred while wearing the necklace, the necklace will amplify the strength it supplies the person enormously, but the person will lose control of him or herself. If the person goes under constant emotional stress, and constantly losses control of their self… the result isn't pretty. The necklace eventually forced the woman into insanity thanks to her nonstop hatred, but she can't feel hurt or pain if she was insane, no matter how depressing it might seem. Her whole life was nothing but wretched, so the insanity was something she could take cover under.

But now, it was time for her ugly death. How she stood those nine ugly months after the ugly night was something she didn't understand. Something kept telling her that something not so ugly was going to be the result of those nine months. So she had to keep going, until it was over and she finally got to see that thing. The thing that would be the first not so ugly thing her crystal blue eyes had set upon. In the end she was wrong, the result of those nine months was not something not so ugly.

It was something beautiful.

So beautiful, the new mom thought, as she looked upon the baby that had a small bush of her ruby hair and her crystal blue eyes... no, not the her crystal blue eyes, as the moms crystal blue eyes revealed the hardships of the life she had and had come to hate. The baby's crystal blue eyes were filled of light, and held the same innocence the snow had. And they also held the same hope the mom once held.

The mom knew that her time had come, as she gave birth with no help, as civilization was miles away, or medical tools, just the shard of will she tucked away deep within her. At first, the mom was sad. Sad as she knew if this was her end, what would become of the baby? The baby left in the middle of nowhere, the baby that would not know what to do or have the strength to do anything. That's why the mom used that shard of will too not only give birth, but to traverse the barren land so she could find the small town she fled from nine months ago.

As she arrived, the snow fell, and she was happy. As she saw the winter island bustle with its everyday life, she looked down at the baby.

And the mother cried.

Not a cry of sorrow, those tears were drained out a long time ago, but tears of happiness. The sun honored her the same way it did the snow, and allowed the streams from her eyes to sparkle and reflect the suns golden glory.

The mom was done, but she did not die the ugly death she thought she would have, but a beautiful death. The moms shaking hand slowly reached out to the baby as she was nearly done, the blood loss was too much. In the hand was the mom's necklace, the golden chain necklace with the ruby. The mom placed the necklace in the baby's hands, and a small fist closed, the necklace still in the daughter's hand.

The mom's eyes slowly looked up to see the baby with the necklace, the baby with the smile, the baby that made her smile. And the mom smiled too. She smiled as she took her last breath, as her eyes started to close, ever so pleasantly.

No one would have ever guessed the 'crazy and unstable' woman who was once named Forsythia Yukichi would die smiling, or that the last sight she would ever see would be her daughter, Forsythia Ruby.

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**Yah! Thats done! Well, tune in for the next chapter, it ****_does _****get better! Forsythia Ruby is gonna be the main protagonist in this story, if you couldn't tell by the ****summary.**

**Here is the OC fill out sheet if you would like to submit an OC. I suggest you read some of the story before filling out.**

Name-

Epithet-

Gender-

Age-

Affiliations-(Bounty Hunter, Marine, Pirate, Revolutionary, etc.)

Rank-(Pirate Captain, Marine Captain, etc.)

Justice-(What type of justice does your character, if marine, believe in? Absolute Justice? Lazy Justice? Unclear Justice?)

Race-(Human, Fishman, Hybrid animal, etc.)

Personality (Please be as descriptive as possible)-

Power/Abilities/Weapon of Choice-(Martial Arts, Gunslinger, Sword master, Devil Fruit, etc.)

Devil Fruit Name and Powers (If any)-

Devil Fruit Strengths-

Devil Fruit Weaknesses-

Skills-(What does your character excel at? Navigating? Sniping? Cooking? Fighting?)

Appearance (Please be as descriptive as possible)-

History-(It doesn't need to be excessively long, but don't make it extremely short either. I do enjoy a good read.)

Dream/Goal-(Pirate King, Fleet Admiral, Revolutionary Leader, etc.)

**Thanks for the OC! Please keep in mind that your OC isn't gonna be used if its not really, well, my story-like.**


	2. Ruby the Dockworker

**Authors Note: Well, I tried to update this along with the prologue. If this story ever seems to get to fast paced let me now. And I'm also trying to "Mary Sue-proof" Ruby.**

**Spoiler Alert: Seriously, this chapter does have a spoiler in it.**

**Disclaimer: Shocking news, I DON'T own One Piece, only my OCs.**

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**Ruby the Dockworker**

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The sun was starting to leak its golden rays through the trees, casting the first shadows of the day. It was the break of dawn on Coldfish Island.

Coldfish Island was a rather simple and unremarkable island. It was never really an island that any travelers or merchants took to much notice of. In fact, there were only a few things anyone would ever need to now about the island.

Coldfish Island was a winter island. Despite being a winter island, it had not snowed there for about nineteen years. The frigid temperature of the island made up for the lack of precipitation just fine, according to the islands' local though.

The island also depended mostly on their fishing and trading industries. Today, like most days, fisherman and dockworkers had just risen to head down to Coldfish Island Dockings, the local dock where most of the day's activities happened for such people.

As always, there was the same girl who slept on a crate by the docks, under a shrunken and dirty blanket. No one paid much heed to the girl. The only thing people knew about the girl was she had turned up at the town as a baby, and she was taken care of by the local Marines until she was ten.

The only thing that ever caught anyone's attention was exotic the girl looked. She had ruby red hair that came down into a long bob, just above her shoulders. She also had the most vivid crystal blue eyes anyone had ever seen.

She dressed rather simply in contrast, as she wore a simple white sundress with an unbuttoned light blue sweater that concealed the dresses' spaghetti straps. The girl wore on her feet wood sandals with light blue straps.

The girl always wore a gold-chained necklace with a ruby; why the girl didn't sell the expensive-looking jewelry for the money she needed so desperately no one knew.

And that said girl was doing her usual morning muttering.

"Why do morning people have to exist, can't they at least leave the rest of us alone?" Ruby sighed.

Ruby started to stretch her arms, and soon glanced over to the docks to make sure that there was no extra work to be done that could done at this time of day.

Some of the best friends Ruby had were the dockworkers. The people at the docks were very nice to her; in fact, they even let Ruby sleep on one of the crates. They always kept an extra eye on her crate if she left her blanket and toiletries behind to go to the market place; making sure that no one suddenly found use for an extra blanket or hairbrush and decided they were too much of a cheapskate or didn't feel up to the task of walking twenty extra feet.

The girl was very appreciative of these actions, as the blanket was the only thing besides her necklace that she had since she was young and placed in the care of Marines.

Surprisingly enough, Marines had actually made good caretakers, but this was probably due to the fact their was nothing else to do but pamper a few babies that no parents had claimed on a boring island like Coldfish.

The blue quilt was worn out; it had been worn out ever since Ruby could remember. The quilt also had 'Forsythia Ruby' sewn in to it, so that is what the Marines that had first found her named her.

The girls' name was Forsythia Ruby, and she was nineteen years old.

To get by with her living, Ruby used her almost _unnatural_ strength to do chores for the dockworkers such as helping them move crates, board cargo onto ships, or unload fish in exchange for the allowance they give the girl that keeps her alive.

The part-time dockworker is at that part of her day where she goes to the marketplace to buy the food she works so hard for. Ruby was currently walking towards Phil, the man who owns the stall that sells bread.

"Good morning Ruby, how's work been now-a-days?"

"It's been fine, thought it seems that no one needs my help recently," Ruby replied, somewhat pouting.

"That's nonsense, those dock people should put ya insane strength to more use," Phil said with a heartily smile.

Ruby tried to keep blood from rushing to her face, and yelled back, "I'm not _that_ strong!"

She was lying though, as Ruby had absurd strength for a nineteen-year-old girl, even if she had a big build, and was on the muscular side from years of manual labor. The girl wasn't blessed height-wise, however, standing at only five feet.

"You're lying and ya know it, now here's a loaf of bread, on the house. You have enough money problems as it is, consider it my treat!"

_He... just offered... me bread— FREE BREAD! _Ruby realized.

'_FREE BREAD_' rang blissfully in her head, and Ruby begins to squeal in delight.

"Yeah, ya sure ya okay," Phil asks in concern, watching her miniature epilepsy fit.

Ruby started attempting to bow in respect, but it's hard to look respectful while sporting a huge smile that's threatening to tear your face in two.

Ruby chanted excitedly, "Thanks old man!"

Phil's sweat dropped. The awkward bow and sudden recovery from being an incoherent, stuttering maniac was just too much.

"Hey, I'm not that old! Phil will do just fine," he chuckles. Ruby bows again, this time the bow was at least semi-normal, and left the stall with the free loaf under her arm.

"That man is to nice for his own good," Ruby giggled.

_A loaf of bread can last me three days, so... three day covered! _She thought, causing her to start grinning crazily.

Now every local was staring at the seemingly girl-on-a-sugar-high.

Ruby paid no heed, and looked around the market place. It seemed that today was one of the market's less busy days.

_Huh, it seems that everyone is crowding 'round the town's bulletin board,_ Ruby thought as observing the large crowd now encircling the board.

The girl headed towards the crowd, squeezing and bumping her way to see what was catching Coldfish Island's local's attention.

When Ruby had managed to squeeze her way through to the front of the crowd, she understood why the bulletin board was attracting everyone.

**Gigantic mess at Sabaody Archipelago's Human Auction House, Celestial Dragon punched by Straw Hat Luffy**

Ruby made a chocking noise, and reread it.

_Seriously? What sort of idiot could possible be this suicidal! At least this 'Straw Hat Luffy' got the pleasure of going down with a bang._

The seagulls interrupted her thoughts by starting their morning calls for breakfast, signaling to Ruby that she better head down to the docks if she didn't want to start and get off work late today.

Ruby shock back to her senses, and started to dawdle her way down the stone steps that elevated the market from the docks.

_Maybe I should start wearing warmer clothes, _Ruby thought as she looked down at her sandals, sundress, and unbuttoned sweater. She did live on a winter island, after all.

_If you barely have enough Beli to live off bread, I doubt you have enough to buy another set of clothes,_ Ruby's subconscious rebutted.

The girl started humming to herself as she descended the stone stairs, her head positioned to look down at my feet.

_Now then, what time is it? If I know when I started, then I'll know when I'll finish._

Ruby's crystal blue eyes drifted up as she lifted her head to see the sun.

"Watches, I'll be able to afford those soon," the girl sarcastically snickered to herself.

Well, the sun was as good a time telling device as any old watch was anyways. The dockworker gazed upon the morning sun, its aura still the babyish pink signaling the coming of the day.

_Huh, must be around nine o'clock. I must have been staring at the town notices for to long, time to start the day at Coldfish Island Docking's ...is that a ship? No, merchants only come to ol' Coldfish in summer, even though summer is still pretty cold. It looks like a... a ship with a pirate Jolly Roger!_

Ruby jumped down the last fleet of stairs and ran towards one of her fellow dockworkers and pal, Damene.

Damene started to say, "Why, good morn—"

"Damene, I see pirates! LETS KICK SOME ASS," a dockworker behind Damene yelled, beating Ruby at telling Damene first.

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**Another chapter! Now seriously, REVIEW! XD**


	3. The Murder Song

**Authors Note: Okay, I'm trying to get Ruby's 'dockworker days' over with so I can go into her being a Marine and all that stuff. So bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, seriously, NOTHING.**

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**The Murder Song**

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"Now, do all of you understand what we are going to do about the pirates? And no, we are NOT going to KICK THEIR ASSES!"

"Aw, don't be such a spoil-sport, Damene," a couple of dockworkers pouted.

The 'plan' that Damene came up with to deal with the pirates was to alert the Marines about another pirate problem. The Marines should prepare for battle while the dockworkers keep an eye on the pirates, making sure they weren't going to start any funny business. Because the dockworkers watched over the port, they felt it was their responsibility to deal with all sea-related problems that happened at Coldfish Island.

The most important part of the plan was that no one was to get the genius ideal of attacking the pirates until the Marines came.

Ruby looked around, all of the other dockworkers were trying to continue their previous business, so why not help them until the pirates came?

"Hey, Nadou, can I help out," Ruby yelled to one of the men that was busy unloading fish crates from a median-sized fishing boat.

"Yeah, can you continue unloading while I get some breakfast?"

Ruby, nodded and at that, Nadou took off. Ruby stepped onto the boat and started piling the remaining crates on top of each other.

_Huh, all these crates must weigh as much as seven grown men_, Ruby thought as she lifting up all the crates at the same time.

_Ah, that expression never gets old,_ she thought as she saw the rest of the dockworkers stare at her for a few second before continuing their own work. When Ruby first started working here, dockworkers could only let their jaws drop on the ground along with their eyes as a ten-year-old girl lifted all the crates at the same time.

_Well, might as well have one thing in life I excel at. It's not like I can do anything else. When I sew, I end up ripping the fabric in half. When I cook fish, I end up setting it on fire. If I try cleaning, playing an instrument, painting, or any other time consumer... something ends up on fire. AND HOW THE HELL CAN CLEANING, PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT, AND PAINTING SET SOMETHING ON FIRE!_

Ruby was trying to put logic into the reason behind her inner-arsonist skills when something rough hit the docks, and all of the dockworkers' eyes shifted upwards. It seemed like the pirates had arrived.

Ruby heard someone shout, "Come on men, let's find us some bars!" The person who yelled this was a burly, bald freak in a brown captain coat.

"Huh, the average low IQ pirate exclamation," Ruby thought aloud with another of her trademark snorts.

"RIGHT, CAPTAIN," was the reply all the rest of the men made as they raised their swords and guns before jumping off the boat.

All the dockworkers were staring at the pirates with calculating eyes, as if trying to burn a hole through them. The pirates took no notice of this, however, as the made their way to town.

The dockworkers started to mumble amongst themselves about who was going to go keep an eye on the pirate until the marines showed up.

"Any volunteers for the watch job," Damene shouted, asking out load what everyone was thinking when the pirates escaped hearing-range.

"I nominate Nadou for the job," someone blurted out.

"And I nominate Ruby," a refreshed-from-breakfast Nadou rebutted.

"Are you kidding, no way in hell am I actually gonna _confront_ pirates!" Ruby screamed, after a pause.

_What are they thinking, its common knowledge that I'm a coward when it comes to actually fighting!_ Ruby justified in her head.

"Ruby, you should go. You haven't been much help at the docks recently, and if the pirates decide to attack you, you can use your semi-decent strength," Damene argued, siding with Nadou.

_ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I haven't been much help recently because you haven't been assigning me anything, and semi-decent?! _Inner-Ruby screamed while tearing off a chunk of her ruby hair. Even if Ruby kept telling people she wasn't that strong, as she tried to be modest, she still secretly built an ego on her strength.

Ruby didn't act out her inner self, however, because there was no arguing with Damene. Damene would end up winning, no matter what, simple as that. Kami herself would probably lose an argument with this manipulative bastard that had somehow made it onto Ruby's list offriends.

_Whatever, _Ruby mentally sighs. _Its not like I'm going to fight anyone, I'm just watching._

With that thought fresh in her mind, Ruby started to follow after the pirate crew, doing a fine job at keeping distance between her and the pirates. The pirates currently arrived at the market place in town. The pirates had immediately headed towards 'The Frozen Fish', the island's best bar. It seemed they had wasted no time in their quest to get wasted.

Ruby opened the door to the bar reluctantly, after a few solid minutes of glaring at the doorknob. The poor, unsuspecting doorknob had received the full wrath of Ruby's glare, as if it was the one to be blamed for Ruby having to babysit some pirates.

The sight that greeted her was that of frightened townspeople huddling in the corner of the bar. They were to busy trying to make themselves become the first-known humans to ever fade through walls to notice the door open. The pirates were to busy jabbering on to one of the barmaids to bring them some sake to notice Ruby, also.

"Listen sweetie, we ain't got all day so just keep the sake rolling before we get any ideals about what else a young girl like you is good for," a couple of the pirates jeered on.

The barmaid cowered at the words the pirates spat out and quickly turned around to precede to put some distance between her and the pirates.

_Poor girl, I think I would be peeing my dress if a pirate said that to me. _It doesn't matter how strong someone is if the only thing they do under pressure is wet themselves.

Not even a minute later, the barmaid returned with lots of bottles of sake on a tray.

_Wow, that was quick. Well, looks like the bar maid is safe for now._

Of course, Kami just _loved _Ruby. The barmaid, who was bringing the sake, tripped in a moment of clumsiness. The people in the bar, civilian and pirate alike, froze with a look of horror on their face almost immediately.

The sake had flown off the bar maids tray and had splashed all over the pirate captain, who Ruby had just come to recognize as Fedrico Watsamo. Watsamo was the quickly angered man with the bounty of 72,000,000 Beli, and he was also the captain of the Quick Kill Pirates.

And he did not look happy... the bar had almost earned itself a full minute of silence before...

"YOU BITCH," echoed all over the room. By now the barmaid's head was trembling, hair covering her face. As her head slowly twitched its way upward, the bar maid's eyes could now be seen, eyes filled to the brim with horror and fear.

"I'LL HAVE MY WAY WITH YOU NOW!" At that, Captain Watsamo grabbed the barmaid's hair and started to drag her out of the bar's door, the rest of his crew following, towards the Quick Kill Pirates' ship. Anyone could guess what Watsamo was going to do.

All Ruby wanted to do now was pray for the poor girl, and then take up 'pirate evasion classes'.

_Huh, it seems everyone else in town will be joining me in the course._

But, of course, Ruby was forced to diminish all though of the extra-curriculum, because she was forced to keep an eye on the Quick Kill pirates.

_Suck it up, you can do this. This is not going to be another of my 'the coward inside strikes back' moments. It's just watching from a distance, okay?_ Ruby thought, trying to reassure herself.

Ruby was on the cowardly side, like mentioned before. Kicking pirate's asses was her idea of an 'other people can knock themselves out, as long as I'm not involved' sorta thing.

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The locals of Coldfish Island heard a door slam. It was no other than the door of 'The Frozen Fish'. One bald and muscular man had stormed out of the door, a furious expression on his face. The man's right hand was clenched in a fist around some poor girl's hair, while dragging her along.

Everyone outside the bar could hear the "I'LL HAVE MY WAY WITH YOU!" Everyone knew what the man was probably going to do, so some had stopped what they were doing to start to cogitate about ways to help the poor girl. Those people had immediately stopped thinking of ways to help when they saw around forty men follow.

When the realization hit the locals that these men were probably pirates, the only thing they could do was look at the girl with eyes of pity and pray for her wellbeing.

Well, almost every local did that.

Phil, the man who sold all the citizens their bread, had just stepped in front of what people assumed to be the captain of the pirates. Phil was more of an 'action man'.

"The only way y'all being takin' that gurl back to ya ship is over my dead body", Phil threatened, voice filled with revolt.

And let's just say that they weren't called the 'Quick Kill Pirates' for nothing.

The gun shot was heard all around town, and was shot just as a redhead swung The Frozen Fish's door open, just like the pirates had a few seconds earlier. Wait a minute, now the redheads hair appeared to take on more of a blood red color.

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As Ruby slowly and shakily turned to nob of the bar's door, she was approached with the sight of Phil standing in front of Captain Watsamo.

"The only way y'all being takin' that gurl back to ya ship is over my dead body".

BANG

Ruby's eyes were wide-open with terror. _I just heard a gun shot! Is Phil okay, was he the one shot?!_

Her questioned was answered as a small blast of blood erupted from Phil's back, and he fell down.

Dead.

Ruby had never seen death before, nor had she ever expected to.

But now she saw a real death right before her eyes. And the death belonged to the kind man who had tried to brighten her morning everyday for the past couple years with friendly small talk.

'_DEAD'_ rang around in Ruby's head with _'FREE BREAD'_, its vibration echoing around the poor girl's mind.

Ruby was in to deep in a state of shock to notice her necklace start to glow and lift itself off her chest with a sudden wind current, the air visible whirling around her.

_Murder the man,_

_May gore appear on your hands._

_Tear and rip,_

_Blood will dip._

_The head torn off_

_You, no one can stop._

Lyrics leaking venom seemed to spew out of the necklace, not that Ruby could make sense of that very fact.

Instead of trying to process her current situation, Ruby was to in shock to think about anything. So something else did the thinking for her.

Killing intent felt like it was replacing the oxygen in her blood flow. With no thought in mind, Ruby lunged at Captain Watsamo. She pounced up in the air; throwing herself at Watsamo, hand stretch outwards.

Watsamo only had time to realize a member of the forming crowd was heading towards him before he fell back, small-but-strong hands pressing against his temples.

Ruby, who had just slammed Watsamo to the ground, pressed her knees against Watsamo's chest. With her knees keeping the captain down, she used the pressure to rip Watsamo's head of his very shoulders.

The blood exploded from the torn neck, just as Ruby's adrenaline seemed to cease. Ruby jolted back into reality, to be welcomed by stares piercing her back. The whole ordeal happened so quickly that the locals had to question if that actually just happened or not.

While the locals did that, Ruby had to wonder why everyone was staring at her.

_Okay, I just blanked out, happens to everyone. So why are people staring at me?_ Ruby stood with hesitance, and turned her head around to see every single local still staring at her.

The tension was building up, she needed to find a conversation starter, and quickly.

"Um, hello! What's going on, friends?" Ruby stupidly said, further increasing the now-thick tension.

_Did I just say that?! Wow, do I fail. _Ruby mentally punched herself. She had never been an expert at socializing.

The majority of the crowd sifted awkwardly. The only response Ruby got was from a middle-aged woman in the front row of the crowd, but the response was not with words as her hand was covering her mouth. The response an index finger shakily pointing at Ruby's hand.

Ruby automatically glanced down, and also covered her mouth with a hand, stifling a horrified gasp. In Ruby's hand was a freshly torn-off head. The girl, on instinct, scanned the ground for a body. Ruby's eyes finally came to rest upon a headless body, lying at her feet. Blood was flowing out of the severed head, as it was also coming from the stub of the neck on the body.

Ruby's knees started to buckle and soon she fell to the ground, hard.

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**So... what's in store for Ruby when she wakes up? Figure out next chapter!**


	4. Dr Isho and Nurse Kankoshi-sama

**Authors Note: Okay, I'm sorry! I can't stop updating! And I KNOW that Leviticus is also the name of something holy or something. I had history class right before I came up with the name! Anyways, the two new OCs that are gonna be introduced in this chapter are gonna be main. Any character from canon that you feel should be in this story, tell me about it. I need suggestions, seriously. Seriously is my favorite word, if you can't tell from all the author notes.**

**Disclaimer: ****Don't own One Piece, simply as that.**

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**Dr. Isho and Nurse Kankoshi-sama**

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Today was one of Ensign Leviticus' busier days, as right now he was busy barking orders at his men.

"The dockworkers have alerted us of pirates docking, a rather uncommon event for Coldfish, ignoring the fact Coldfish is part if the Grand Line, almost bordering the New World. The pirates are called the Quick Kill Pirates, lead under Captain Fedrico Watsamo who currently holds a bounty of 72,000,000 Beli. Now, the plan is decently obvious, GET OUT THERE AND APPREHEND SOME PIRATES!"

The Marines flinched at the volume of the last part of his briefing, but soon sweat dropped at the—

"All right, be safe!"

"Bipolar mental," the Marines muttered to themselves. Of course, deep down everyone loved Coldfish's only officer ranked Marine.

With the brief still in mind, the Marines confidently marched out of the miniature Marine headquarters.

The small group of Marines had soon reached Coldfish's hub, the marketplace. Their smug smiles faltered, though, as a crowd began to appear in their line of vision.

The back row of the crowd seemed to realize that the Marines were in their presence, as the backed away. Some tugged on their fellow crowd members' shirtsleeves, and the process continued until everyone was aware of marine presence.

"Ma'am, what happened here," a Marine questioned a random audience member.

The said member moved to the right, no longer blocking the Marines sight. The marines now took in the sight of a fainted Ruby, a shot man, a sobbing barmaid, roughly forty terrified pirates, and one decapitated Fedrico Watsamo… head and body not intact.

"Um…"

_Okay, not what we were expecting,_ was the only thing the Marines thought.

One Marine recovered faster than the rest and yelled out uncertainly, "Um, you better... like—," the Marine paused, "Come with us now... pirates?"

Okay, not completely recovered. Anyways, the pirates looked up, and three... two... one...

"Sure."

The Marines almost fell over. Seriously, 'sure'? No fight or anything, just _sure!_ Like, they were okay with going to prison _sure!?_

While the Marines proceeded to stand there like idiots, the pirates started to cry out, "Now we don't have to pretend to be pirates! Fedrico Watsamo is DEAD!"

Cheers rang out through the pirates, as the Marines just stood there, mouths agape, still resembling idiots.

"Are you going to arrest us, or what?" Came a high-pitched voice shouting out from the middle of the pirates.

"Um, sure... but you have to walk to the base where... we keep the cells?" A Marine said, pointing towards the base.

"Okay!" And with that, the pirates walked themselves right to the headquarters. The Marines continued to dumbly stand there, but soon began to offer each other 'wake-up pinches'.

"Are you gonna help clean up the mess here or what!" An elderly woman soon interrupted their actions, bonking the nearest Marine on the head with her cane.

The Marines looked over, and it seemed the crowd was doing more to help the current situation then they were. Two bystanders, who happened to be a doctor and a nurse, were looking at Ruby, who all the Marines knew since she was a baby. A group of women started to help the still-sobbing barmaid up, while some men were busy carrying the corpse of a shot civilian to the local morgue. Some dockworkers were mopping the streets clean of blood, while other lifted the bloodied body and head of Watsamo to the sea, where they would likely dump him.

"Should we report back to—"?

"Yah, just... yah."

With that, the Marines awkwardly headed back to their base.

* * *

"Hey, doc, how's Ruby doing?"

Doctor Isho Humiyo was currently examining an unconscious redhead.

"She's doing what she as been doing for the last five minutes, SLEEPING!" Humiyo yelled.

"Jeez, what is with it with people now-a-days. I said she was fine but unconscious just a few seconds ago. Is Ruby suppose to magically teleport to the middle of the Calm Belt and get run over by a Sea King in the few seconds I turn my back?" Humiyo muttered to himself.

The woman who just asked the question huffed and crossed her arms at Humiyo's retort.

"I'm sorry for wondering," the woman snapped back.

"Well, stop being sorry and help me move her into some sort of shelter she can stay in until she wakes up."

"Why should I help you? I'll help carry her when you ask me to, _politely_."

"Fine. Oh _great_ Kankoshi-_sama, _please, could your greatness spare a moment to help carry this _poor, dying girl?_"

"That's more like it!" Dr. Isho's assistant, nurse Kankoshi Rikona, beamed, ignoring the overflowing sarcasm.

With that, the doctor and nurse gently picked Ruby up. The doctor's arms were hooked under Ruby's armpits, while the nurse's arms were hooked under Ruby's knees.

"So, are we gonna just drop her off at the marine base to stay with Leviticus. Ruby is quite popular among Coldfish's Marines." Rikona said.

"Nah, I think Damene and the rest of the dockworkers are pretty worried about her." Humiyo replied.

"Marines it is!"

"WHAT! If you've forgotten, you're the assistant here, while I am the certified doctor!"

"Yeah, but this is a great excuses to see Leviticus! And, boy, is he just _steaming_," Rikona drooled out.

"I don't get what it is with females and Leviticus. Why does _he _get all the ladies attention, even though he always brushes off the _countless _amount of women who throw themselves at him?" Humiyo exclaimed, while still carrying Ruby.

"That just makes us women like him more."

Humiyo and Rikona continued to bicker until they arrived at the Marine headquarters on Coldfish.

"Nurse Rikona, pleasure to see you. And why, may I ask, are you carrying Ruby with you into the Marine base?" A polite Marine asked, taking off his cap while bowing.

"Why, what a polite Marine! Something you don't run into that much anymore!" Rikona joyously said.

Humiyo ignored the fact the Marine didn't acknowledge him, and said, "_We_ are here to give a proper Marine checkup to our friend here. _We _would appreciate you letting us inside."

The doctor made sure to emphasize _we_, as if trying to make a point.

"Sure, nurse Rikona. Please follow me down the Marine corridors to medical bay. If you are in need of any medical instruments that you do not find there, find a passing Marine and alert them of the issue. I'm sure they will get you what you need."

"Thank you." Rikona curtly bowed, while Humiyo let out an inaudible growl.

The Marine led them through a couple of passages before arriving in a big, white room that looked like a miniature hospital. Nurses where running right and left, hurriedly bringing bandages to injured Marines and citizens, as the Marine medical bay was also used as Coldfish Islands' hospital.

The Marine guide silently left, leaving Humiyo and Rikona standing at the doors to the room. Many locals were taking up beds, as the doctor and nurse had to scan the room a few times before they saw an empty bed.

_Well, it is flu season. _Humiyo told himself inwardly.

"I'm guessing the bed to the far right will be where we lay Ruby down, as it is the bed you're staring at. Let's go put Ruby down." Rikona said.

Dr. Isho nodded, and they walked over to the bed and laid Ruby on it. The bed was a white, twin sized bed that had an IV bag hanging over it. A white bed table with an assortment of medical instruments sat next to the bed. The bed was favorable in the corner, reducing the risk of being run over by one of the many panicking nurses.

"So, are we just going to leave her here until she wakes up or something?" Rikona asked.

"I don't know! You were the one who wanted Ruby to stay here until she regains consciousness!"

"Ugh! Well, you're the certified doctor here!"

"Why do you only acknowledge that when it can be used to your benefit?!"

"Whatever! I'm gonna go ask my Levitie-chan on a date! You figure something out!"

"_Levitie-chan!_ You can not be ser-"

The argument was cut off when the girl on the bed began to let out a grumble. Both Dr. Isho and Rikona snapped out of their argument, and turned their heads to Ruby.

Ruby arched her back up in a flexing motion as she started to stir from her sleep.

* * *

Ruby felt herself starting to awake. The redheads' eyelids lifted open, and she saw two blurry figures.

As Ruby slowly reached absolute consciousness, she said the first thing that came to mind—

"Who are you?!"

The man and woman lifted their gaze off Ruby and gave each other a quick glance, before looking at Ruby again.

The man started to introduce himself first.

"My name is Doctor Isho Humiyo. My _lovely_ assistant here is—"

"Nurse Kankoshi Rikona, pleasure to make your acquaintance." The woman said, cutting Dr. Isho off.

Ruby scanned over the two. The man, Dr. Isho, was on the taller side and looked to be in his late-twenties. He had wide, hazel green eyes, and had short, messy brunette hair. He had a very faint beard, as he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. He was wearing a white lab coat over a black tunic top, which was tucked into a pair of khaki pants. His footwear was a pair of geta sandals, with black straps.

The woman, nurse Rikona, was just about a head shorter than Dr. Isho, and was probably in her mid-twenties. She had sleek black heir, reaching mid-back. Her most noticeable feature was definitely her eyes, which were narrow but also a deep amethyst purple. She was also wearing a white lab coat, over a brown tank top tucked into jean capris. On her feet was a pair of webbed, black high heels.

"So..." Rikona started, abruptly breaking Ruby's thoughts. "Do you remember what happened earlier?"

Ruby thought about the question, and then made a face that made her look like she was in deep concentration.

_Huh, what happened earlier? Well, stupid Damene forced me to spy on some pirates. Yeah, I'm gonna remember that later on. Watch out Damene. Then, there was that bar, and that barmaid. Spilled sake... 'I'll have my way with you now!'...Phil—_

Ruby let out a startled gasp as she started to remember the second part of the morning.

_Oh no, PHIL! Poor Phil... Then, song? Some deep-voiced song about murder and stuff? You know what, I'll come back to that thought later. Red, lots of red and blood. Wait a minute, did I—_

"Did I kill Fredrico Watsamo?" Ruby said, stating the rest of the thought out load.

"Yeah, well... I guess you did..." Humiyo answered awkwardly, using his wonderful social skills.

Rikona glared at Humiyo, mouthed out 'idiot', and then turned back to the poor panicking girl to say, "Its okay, hun. He was a bad man, you probably saved that poor barmaid from her soon-to-be fate."

Ruby realized the truth behind the statement, so she nodded and then asked, "So, why again am I in the Marine medical bay."

Ruby knew the Marine base by heart, so she would automatically recognize where she was.

"Because, Rikona here wanted to see her _Levitie-chan_," Humiyo replied in a mocking fashion, just as Rikona opened her mouth.

_'Levitie-chan? Is that suppose to be Ensign Leviticus?' _Ruby thought, snickering.

Humiyo caught on to Ruby's snicker, and joined her.

"Urgh! What is wrong with calling him Levitie-chan?!" yelled Rikona.

"Only the part where he is a thirty-two year old Marine!" said Humiyo humorously.

"You know what? Why don't you two be testimonies to his marriage proposal?"

Humiyo started to laugh up again. "Ha, him marry—"

Humiyo didn't get to say the rest, as Rikona grabbed both him and Ruby by their ears and dragged them out of the room so quickly that the rest of the nurses could only see the trail of smoke following the three.

* * *

**In which way is Rikona going to torture poor Leviticus? And how will Ruby be dragged into this? Figure out... next chapter! XD**


	5. Ruby the Marine?

**Authors Note: I can't stop updating! A few people PMed me their OC, my thanks to theses people. I WILL use your OC, but it may take a while for them to make their appearances. And remember, I'm open to criticism!**

**Spoiler: This chapter does have a spoiler.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece**

* * *

**Ruby the Marine?**

* * *

Ensign Leviticus was in his office, slouching on a leather chair, and had his feet resting on his desk. Currently, he was reading over the almost unbelievable report he had received only a few minutes ago. The ensign's eyes had finished traveling over the report, his eyebrows furrowed.

_Yes, I was indeed born at night. But it was not last night! Is this report some kind of joke! There is absolutely no way the whole crew of the Quick Kill Pirates would just hand themselves over the second their captain dies. Kami knows nothing in life is that easy! And then my subordinates expect me to believe them when they tell me a nineteen-year-old girl went berserko and slaughtered Watsamo? Hah! Actually… this is Ruby where talking about. Within the next decade we're all expecting her to lift islands._

Leviticus pondered over the report some more, but was interrupted by some rather _interesting_ sounds emitting from the hallway.

"Halt! Slow down! This area is not accessible to locals!" Rang out a couple of panicking guards, along with the sound of breaking glass and a cat's shriek.

Just as Leviticus started to lift himself out of his comfy leather chair to stop the fight happening behind his doors he heard another voice.

"NO! Nothing can get in the way of true love! Levitie-chan will ask me to marry him!"

Leviticus immediately halted, _Oh no… please don't tell me…_

The doors to his office burst open, revealing a pile of unconscious Marines. In front of the pile of Marines was _her_, and _she_ had brought with her two unfortunate souls.

Leviticus gulped. The woman was none other than the fearsome Rikona Kankoshi, who the Marine officer had been cursed with by being the object of her affections.

"Levitie-chan! I brought Humiyo and Ruby here to witness the moment you ask me to marry you, I hope it doesn't make anything less romantic!" Rikona squealed, pouncing on top of Leviticus.

_Less romantic! There is a limit to how 'less romantic' something can get! I think forcing other people into marriage is bordering the 'less romantic' limit! Why did it have to be me she likes… she's good-looking enough to get any other man`s attention…think of something…_

The ensign then noticed a dazed Humiyo and Ruby, who were beginning to recover from their most recent traumatizing experience.

_Okay, excuses making time!_ Leviticus thought to himself. What_ is the-_

"We'll be together forever and ever and-"

_Screw it._

"So Ruby, how are you doing as a newly-recruited Marine?" Leviticus asked, out of the blue.

Rikona and Humiyo let out twin gasps, and Rikona even got off Leviticus, much to his relief.

_That was the best excuse I could come up with? Ruby's gonna tell Rikona that her becoming a Marine is a lie. Well, I was under pressure. Literally, a crazy madwoman was squeezing me to death.… So she better play along…._

Ruby, on instinct, perked up at the mention of her name. Now, she was staring at Leviticus out of confusion.

"Sir, I never— "

"Have been so happy before?" Leviticus finished, cutting Ruby off. Leviticus reappeared behind Ruby, and whispered through gritted teeth, "Play along."

Ruby was surprised at Leviticus's newfound teleportation skills, but soon returned Leviticus' glare, and then sighed. Ruby realized Leviticus was one of those people you just don't argue with.

_Great, another Damene._ Ruby thought.

"Ruby, are you really a Marine?" Rikona asked.

Yeap. Totally a Marine." Ruby said sarcastically. Leviticus stiffened up at Ruby's sarcasm, and elbowed her.

"Wow, how are doing as a Marine?" The oblivious Humiyo said.

"I… ugh…" Ruby trailed off while trying to come up with an excuse while Leviticus was panicking in the corner of the room.

"RikonaHumiyodispatchedMARINEFORD!" Leviticus screamed out, garbling up his words.

"What was that?" A bewildered Humiyo asked.

Leviticus nervously sweated, and said after a pause, "You and Rikona are to be dispatched to Marineford's medical center. Fire Fist was caught, and has a set execution date. Fleet Admiral Sengoku thinks that Whitebeard may show up to save one of his 'sons'. You are to tend to Marine injuries, if the execution goes awry."

"Fire First, Second Commander of the Whitebeard pirates, was caught?! Why is he not blinding everyone with an overly posted picture of his face on the towns news board?!" Ruby shouted, after recovering from her shock.

"Because a couple of delinquent kids where using government birds as target practice. I only got the news because Marine HQ told me over a Den Den Mushi. Fire Fist was actually captured a fortnight ago." Leviticus stated, but soon cheerfully added, "Luckily, this weeks news managed to reach us!"

Ruby muttered something about never trusting the town bulletin board again.

"So, we're going to Marineford as medics?" Humiyo questioned.

"Yep," was all that Leviticus said.

"And what about Ruby. If there is a possibility of Whitebeard himself showing up at Marineford, the current Marine Headquarters, wouldn't the World Government be leaning towards dispatching most Marines currently available in the general area around Marineford?" Rikona professionally stated.

Ruby stiffened up at that, a sent a pleading look towards Leviticus.

_Damn Rikona's intelligence! If I want to keep up this lie, I'll have to send Ruby to Marineford. I don't want to send an innocent civilian to Marineford, if Whitebeard does show up Ruby is as good as dead! Is this really worth it?_

Leviticus flashed a look at Rikona, who, judging by her face, was starting to remember that her crush was in the room with her.

_Yes, yes it is._

"Ruby, you are to also go to Marineford, but as a Seaman Recruit. You will be working under Captain Hina. Rikona, Humiyo, if you could please leave I need to give Ruby further instructions." Leviticus said.

Rikona looked like she was going to protest, but then nodded and left with Humiyo.

As soon as they left, Ruby turned towards Leviticus.

"What the hell was that about! I never joined the Marines, I am not a Seaman Recruit, and do you want me to meet my death if the Whitebeard Pirates do appear? EXPLAIN!"

Leviticus flinched at the volume of Ruby's voice, and tried to come up with a retort.

"You need to understand, I needed to come up with something to distract Rikona! And you being a Marine were the first thing that came to mind! For the Seaman Recruit part, I thought it would be better if you weren't a Chore Boy, I can say from experience being a Chore Boy sucks! Also, the reason you are working under Hina is because she will be more on the sidelines if a fight does break out, decreasing the risks of you dying. Plus, I don't have any more Marine uniforms left. I only have a Marine cap, and Hina is the only Marine Captain that allows exceptions to the dress code." Leviticus answered nervously.

"And how will Captain Hina know that I am actually a Marine, not some nobody posing as one, if she has never seen me working under her?" Ruby asked.

The ensign thought for a moment, before pulling out a parch of paper and a quill. He started writing something, and sealed it in an envelope after a content look. Leviticus handed Ruby the letter.

"That letter credits you as a Marine, and it tells Hina that I assigned you to work under her. Hand it to Hina once you arrive at Marineford. Rikona and Humiyo have been working with Marines for much longer, so I put you as their responsibility from here on. They will know what to do. Now, if you could please leave to follow them."

Ruby scowled, mad at the whole ordeal, but then took her leave. As Ruby exited, a thought came to mind. She didn't _have _to go to Marineford to fight, she would just go with Rikona and Humiyo to Marineford to hid on whatever Marine ship she had traveled on. In the end, she_ wouldn't _have to fight. Ruby smiled at that thought. She was an inexperienced dockworker, to hell with fighting New World monsters.

As the redhead finally came out of the base, Rikona and Humiyo instantly spotted her.

"Hey Ruby! They want us to leave for Marineford now, you should quickly get your stuff. Because you just become a Marine, I think you should follow our lead! We'll tell you everything you need to know about being a Marine!" Humiyo yelled while running over to Ruby, waving.

"No, its okay. Its not like I even own anything I could bring to a possible war. The dockworkers will watch over my stuff! We should be back from Marineford soon, right?"

"Don't you have any weapons you want to bring? It's a bad ideal to enter a war without your own weapon, unless you have a insane battle style or devil fruit ability we don't know of." Rikona questioned, walking over to join Ruby and Humiyo, arms crossed.

"From my time living under the Marines, I learned that they supply weapons to those who don't have any. And, no, I have no insane battle style. Or devil fruit ability, if my dull but existent swimming ability's are any clue."

"Well, lets get going! This is gonna be exciting, possible Ruby's first time off Coldfish Island! Ruby, we just have to board that ship," Humiyo pointed to a Marine battleship that's gears started spinning to life, getting ready to make its voyage, "And then we'll be at Marineford before we know it! Don't worry, we'll help you find Captain Hina once we arrive." Humiyo swung an arm over Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby looked from the Marine ship, to a gleaming Humiyo, to a crossed-armed Rikona.

_What a day I've had. I commit my first kill, get forced into becoming a Marine, and I'm about to board a ship leading to my pending death. Kami-sama, don't worry, our feelings towards each other are mutual._

* * *

**Poor Ruby, forced in to the Marines... all because Leviticus doesn't have any balls when it comes to Rikona...It is gonna get better, I ****_promise_****! XD**


	6. First Day on the Job

**Authors Note: Well, in this chapter Ruby arrives at Marineford. It may seem like I'm rushing over the details of the Whitebeard War, well, because I am. I don't really want my OC to actually make an impact on the Whitebeard War because that's a total Mary Sue thing to do. And I don't want to COMPLETELY ruin the war for those who haven't already seen it, though I suggest you don't read this fanfic if you haven't gotten to the time skip in One Piece.**

**Spoiler Alert: LOTS of spoilers.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own One Piece. Some day I will though... MWAHAHAHA!**

* * *

**First Day on the Job**

* * *

The honks on the Marine battleship bleared on, erupting the peaceful mood on the ship.

Ruby, who was dosing off with a hand off cards, jumped up along with Humiyo and Rikona. They sat dazed for a moment, before realizing their decks of cards had fluttered down to the floor. Humiyo bent down to pick them up, placing all of the dropped cards into the card box.

Rikona regained her composure after Humiyo, and announced, "Well, looks like we've arrived at Marineford. So, want to head up to see what's going on."

Humiyo shoved the last card into its box, and then nodded excitedly. "I can't believe we get to witness something as historic as Fire Fist's execution!" Humiyo grabbed Ruby's hand, and Rikona lead the trio up to the deck of the ship.

Ruby was standing on her tippy-toes, trying to see where they landed, but was meet with the sight of a gate instead.

Rikona did a double-fault at the gate and then rubbed her back and added, "Ops, my bad. I forgot about the Gate of Justice."

While Rikona and Humiyo looked embarrassed about forgetting about the gate, Ruby stared up at it with marvel.

"I don't think I've ever seen something that big…" the dockworker said under her breath.

A large creaking sound caught Rikona and Humiyo's attention again, and the mountainous Gate of Justice slowly slide open its doors. Ruby continued to stare in awe at the now parted gate, as the battleship began to trudge forward again.

Ruby's jaw fell off its hinge, however, when she caught a sight at what lay behind the Gates of Justice. Marineford was littered with Marines, about one hundred thousand to be precise. The ship she was sailing on lined the coastline to join forty-nine others. Fire Fist was the rear of the island, barely visible from where Ruby was standing. The three Marine admirals, who looked very badass sitting in their admiral chairs, were also guarding Fire Fist. And at the coastline, right where the ship Ruby was on was heading, were the…

"The Shichubukai…" Ruby wheezed, and she started stumbling backwards. Rikona and Humiyo looked over at Ruby.

"Ruby, are you all right? You look a bit pale." Rikona said with a concerned look.

Ruby looked at Marineford once more, before a grin broke out.

_Look at all of these joined forces! I don't even think I will have to hid on this ship. If Whitebeard does come, he'll be demolished in two seconds flat. Besides, he's not even in his prime anymore anyways!"_ Ruby thought, eyeing the ridiculous security with appreciation.

"Well, Rikona and I should start heading down to the Marine HQ's medical bay. The execution isn't until another three hours, so you should have enough time to see us off before you head over to the gates where you'll serve under Hina." Humiyo said before linking his arms with Rikona on his left and Ruby on his right. "Yah, off to Marine HQ we go!" Humiyo chanted, starting to skip.

_What sort of person can skip in an environment like this? And why aren't Rikona and Humiyo reacting to this! They act like they see this sort of stuff every day! _Ruby thought, glancing over at her two companions while sporting a bewildered expression.

As Humiyo cheerfully manhandled Ruby and Rikona towards Marine HQ, Ruby shivered under the stares they were receiving. Many Marines surrounding them were glaring at the trio for Humiyo's rather inappropriate attitude towards what is supposed to be a serious event.

Unfortunately, Humiyo felt the need to recap all of his experiences at Marine HQ while they were walking. The stories started out fine, but were now becoming irritating and ridiculous.

"Almost there… I remember the third time I visited this place, it was the year of—"

By now, Ruby was resisting the urge to throw herself of the coast and drown. The redhead settled on muttering to Rikona, "Why the _hell_ is Humiyo so excited, and frankly _annoying,_ about Fire Fist's execution."

Rikona, who looked like she also would want nothing more than to throw herself at Whitebeard himself, sighed.

"Whenever Humiyo is excited or anxious, he calms his nerves by nonstop chatter. Its an anxiety habit."

"—everyone loved me after that, and yelled out, 'Isho-sama, why aren't you a kami!' And then I said, like the humble and modest person I am, 'I may not be Kami, but I am a close second.' And then—'"

"Modest my ass."

Rikona laughed at Ruby's remark. It didn't seem like Humiyo heard Ruby though, as he persisted on with his tale about saving Marineford from a thousand Sea Kings.

The trio eventually reached the Marine HQ building. In front of it stood a couple of guards, looking very on-edge. Humiyo stopped story-telling to identify himself.

"I'm doctor Isho Humiyo, and I have come here for medic support. The purple-eyed woman is my assistant, nurse Kankoshi Rikona. The redhead is Forsythia Ruby, who works under captain Hina and is coming with us for the moment."

The guards, who looked satisfied with this, cleared the way to the buildings entrance. Ruby entered the building with Humiyo and Rikona, staying close to them as she had no idea were she was going. Humiyo lead the way to a door with bright white light shining out of the doors crevices and...

"Dr. Isho-san, I'm glad you came. So… how much do you wanna bet on Whitebeard showing?" A doctor who was approaching them asked.

"Yeah, you bet he is gonna show. I think…" Humiyo answered, leaving Ruby and Rikona by themselves in favor of joining in on the bets.

"Well, we made it. Guess you better get going." Rikona said, turning to face Ruby.

"Yeah, I'm suppose to work under Hina, well…"

At that moment, a nurse came rushing in. She bent over panting, but then looked upwards and shouted, "Guys, its unbelievable! Okay, so Fleet Admiral Sengoku said that he was going to tell, I quote, 'everything'. And Gold Roger turned out to have a son… Ace is Gold Roger's son!

"WHAT?!" The whole room screamed, everyone's attention now focused at the nurse. After getting over the shock, the room started to break out panicking.

"Gold Roger's legacy lives on!"

"Oh no, if he's the Pirates King's son, how powerful is he?"

"Why didn't the World Government tell us before?"

"Who could have possible been Gold Roger's lover?"

The questions were cut off, however, when the room started to shake, uncontrollable. Everyone started to scream as the room was tilted sideways, a large crack appearing in its center. Screams ripped off the vibrating walls, until the shaking started to calm down. When everyone regained his or her footing, further panicking commenced.

"Was that a tsunami?"

"TSUNAMI! This can't just be a coincidence..."

"Whitebeard must have shown up!"

"How can a human do such a thing….? Whitebeard's power… is unbelievable…"

The rooms' residences started to back off into the corner, all except Humiyo and Rikona, who looked unaffected while standing in the middle of the room.

"Yes, I just made a fortune! I knew Whitebeard was gonna show… hahaha… bet won!" Humiyo announced to the whole room.

"Baka! All you can think about is that bet when a mini earthquake just shock us all?" Rikona scolded Humiyo.

"I wish someone could go out there and tell me what's happening…" Rikona muttered, looking away from Humiyo to make a face distorted by thought. Then sudden realization hit Rikona.

"Ruby!" Rikona said, turning around to look directly at Ruby, who was huddled in the corner with the doctors and nurses.

"Ugh… yeah?" Ruby replied from the middle of the bundled group, confused.

"You're suppose to be working under Hina right now, right?"

"Ugh… yeah…? Ruby replied, not liking where this was going.

"Great! You're a full-fledged Marine! Go out and fight with Captain Hina, and then you can tell us what is happening!" Rikona enthusiastically exclaimed.

"NO WAY!" The redhead yelled.

_I cannot go out there… I cannot go out there!... I CANNOT go out into the middle of that warzone! _Ruby's inner coward screamed.

* * *

**I'm super sorry about this chapter being so short! I promise the next one will be super long, if that helps make up for it! So... is Ruby gonna be forced to fight in the war? Whats gonna happen? Find out next time on Dragon Ba... er... Blood Red. And, yes, you are not gonna find out the meaning behind this fanfic's name until MUCH later. (A.k.a Not that far away)**


	7. And a Woman at That

**I'm so sorry! I know that this chapter isn't that long, please forgive me! I had to go to my mom's Johns Hopkins collage reunion and a bunch of other stuff, so this is all I got to write!**

**Spoiler Alert: The alert speaks for itself.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

* * *

**And a Woman at That**

"You'll never get me alive!"

"Ruby, get back here THIS INSTANT! You're gonna go out there whether you like it or not! Why did you even join the Marines if you're so afraid of fighting!"

Rikona was currently chasing Ruby throughout Marine HQ.

_I joined the Marines because Leviticus forced me in order to get away from you!_ Ruby almost felt like yelling out load.

Ruby's running stamina was unfortunately extremely short, so after only a few minutes she had to start resisting the urge to plop down on the ground and rest her throbbing legs.

_Damn it! _Ruby mentally cursed when she finally gave in and fell to the ground, heaving and panting. She could barely hear the noises of the war outside over the thunderous sound of her heartbeat.

"Ah ha! Got you!" Rikona finally shouted, roughly turning a corner while dashing through the labyrinth known as Marine HQ.

The Seaman Recruit didn't even bother trying to get up and continue to run, any more running and she thought she would go into cardiac arrest. No point in trying to prevent your death in war if all it meant was you instead get to die of exhaustion.

Ruby felt a hand roughly grip her shoulder, and she know the chase was over. Ruby didn't even look up at Rikona when she got up and dusted herself off. Suddenly, the grip on Ruby's shoulder tightened, clenching Ruby's shoulder painfully.

"OWW! Rikona, you don't need to grip me that hard! I promise I'll go…" When Ruby turned her head to face Rikona midsentence, she noticed she was looking eyelevel at someone's waist.

"What the hell…" Ruby muttered, turning her head upwards until she met the eyes of a person who was defiantly not Rikona.

"Well, it looks like I'm the first to reach the Marine Headquarters. I would congratulate myself if I didn't already expect that." A deep voice of the big man, presumable a pirate, announced.

While Ruby was looking at the stranger, Rikona vanished. Ruby looked around, and saw Rikona standing in the corner, quietly accessing the situation. Ruby sent Rikona a frantic look, but Rikona just put a finger up to her lip to hush Ruby before she could say anything.

"Hey girlie, you the only one here? Hmm, must be. To think they would leave a single person to guard their beloved headquarters. And a woman at that." The pirate said, muttering the last part to himself.

Ruby, who was cowering just seconds before, abruptly yelled, "What do you mean by 'and a woman at that?!'"

Rikona shouted from the corner, "Punch him Ruby, quickly!"

Ruby would have normally shouted 'yes, and what would happen after that? The pirate would hand me my ass on a silver platter, that's what!' But she was to mad at the pirate for the equation 'pirate beats dockworker' to register in her mind.

"With pleasure, Rikona!" Ruby loudly replied.

Ruby evaluated the pirate, who had just pulled out his sword. The former dockworker was in a defense stance, looking for blind spots on the pirate where she could land a punch on without getting easily deflected by the sword.

But the pirate was the one to make the first move, carelessly thrusting his blade at Ruby. The thrust was sloppy, hinting that either the pirate wasn't actually that skilled, or he just didn't think of Ruby as that big of a threat.

The redhead was able to barely sidestep it, but being able to sidestep an experienced pirate at all signaled that the pirate thought extremely little of her skills. Ruby would usually be relieved by the fact the pirate was going easy on her, but for some strange reason she got offended and even angrier.

"You're gonna regret underestimating me!" Ruby roared as she threw a punch at the pirate.

The pirate put his sword out to deflect the punch, but was meet by a surprise when his arms starting shake from the strain blocking Ruby's punch was putting on him.

The pirate had to put all of his effort into holding back Ruby's punched, and made the mistake of planting his feet into the ground for additional force. Ruby saw the mistake, and maneuvered around the pirate to go in for another punch. The pirate had his feet planted too firmly in the ground to regain his footing quickly enough to deflect the punch in time.

Ruby's punch landed right in the pirates stomached, and the pirate flew across the room, winded. Ruby's hand now throbbed along with her overused-from-running legs. As Ruby started to regain enough energy to go in for another attack, the pirate started to stand again. The wall where the pirate flew into crumpled down around the pirate as his got up.

"You're gonna pay, you bitch!" The pirate yelled at Ruby as he positioned his sword in front of him, ready to attack.

Rikona, who Ruby had forgotten about, came out of the corner to take advantage of the pirate standing still. She quickly dashed up to the pirate, and leaped off the ground right before the pirate.

As Rikona came down, she curled the tips of her fingers, while the rest of her hand remained flat. Her middle knuckles made contact with the pirate's throat.

"Atemi Waza: Hira Ken!" Rikona yelled as she struck the pirate. Ruby looked at Rikona curiously. What was that attack going to do, she hadn't even hit the pirate with a proper punch.

So naturally, Ruby was quite surprised when the pirate stiffened up, and then fell backwards, a large thumping sound made when the pirate hit the ground.

"What was that?!" Ruby asked Rikona, still quite surprised.

"A martial arts style that utilizes a doctors knowledge of the human anatomy and pressure points. I struck a carotid artery, an artery that delivers blood from the heart to the neck and head. My attack probably permanently paralyzed, or maybe even killed, the pirate."

After hearing that, Ruby had to feel a bit of sympathy for the pirate.

"Can all doctors use that?" Ruby asked randomly.

Rikona giggled a bit before saying, "No, they don't teach you Atemi Waza in medical school. Why would you ask?"

"To know whether or not messing with doctors in the future is a big no-no."

Rikona and Ruby stopped talking, and in the silence they could hear the not-so-silent event happening outside. Blades clashing, yells, gunshots…

"Hey, weren't you supposed to go outside and fight?" Rikona realized, much to Ruby's horror.

_Oh Kami-sama, not the chase again!_

Ruby and Rikona stared at each other for a few more moments, until both broke out in a wild dash.

"You'll still never get me alive!"

"Nonsense!"

Luckily for Ruby, another voice added to Rikona and Ruby's shouts before chase could really get heated.

"DON'T DO IT!" A person from outside the building screamed.

Ruby suddenly felt a sensation of overwhelming power rush through her. She felt like had a fifty ton load on her back, pushing her down to the ground no matter how hard she tried to stand.

Ruby finally gave in to the felling, and, for the second time today, she fainted.

Rikona also felt the same sensation enter her, but she managed to ward it off. She watched as Ruby was not as successful as her at battling the haki, and Rikona watched Ruby fall to the ground.

Rikona walked over to the fainted girl, and bent down next to her to check her pulse.

"Well, she should be fine." Rikona said to herself, lifting her fingers off Ruby's neck.

Rikona stood up and looked up towards the ceiling, wandering off in her thoughts. Rikona then muttered a sentence to herself.

"Conqueror's Haki, that must be it. If this war is going to signal the end to Gold Roger's so-called "Golden Age of Piracy", I don't even want to think about the coming era.

* * *

**I'm super sorry about the shortness of this chapter, especially because the last chapter was short also! Whew... got that chapter over with! Now we can move on to Ruby being a Marine. All OCs will be introduced shortly. Bye! XD**


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